TOM WHO?
The Enigma of Tom Kreisler to premiere at the New Zealand International Film Festival 2015.

[From the NZ International Film Festival programme:] Shirley Horrocks' doco sheds new light on the life and art of Tom Kreisler, a 20th-century New Zealand painter with scant interest in landscape but a strong affinity with Mexican traditions and the wit and verve of Pop Art.If the art of Tom Kreisler (1938–2002) remains a secret, Shirley Horrocks' richly illustrated doco does everything right to make it less so. A uniquely cosmopolitan figure in the New Zealand arts scene, he grew up in Argentina, the son of Austrian refugees from Nazi Europe. At age 13 they sent him to Christchurch, where a well-to-do uncle and aunt adopted him. (Ian Athfield was a boyhood friend.) He left New Zealand and travelled the world before returning and entering art school. In his first dealer show, with what proved to be characteristic Pop Art verve he mocked the Arts Council 1967 tour of a replica of Michelangelo's David by exhibiting a giant painting of the statue's penis. Averse tomarketing and the politics of the art world, he preferred to live with his family in New Plymouth and do his own thing, teaching art to high school students, though at one point he attempted a break for Mexico. Exploring the artist's inspiration, Horrocks heads to Mexico too, to explore the Day of the Dead culture that was a lifelong influence. Back in New Zealand, family, curators and numerous artists share their stories, making those of us who never met the man wish that we had.

THREE FESTIVAL SCREENINGS IN AUCKLAND:At the Academy Cinema
Thursday 30 JULY at 6.15pm - PREMIERE SCREENING
Friday 31 JULY at 11 am
Sunday 2 AUGUST at 3.30 pm

TWO FESTIVAL SCREENINGS IN WELLINGTON:
At the Soundings Theatre, Te Papa
Wednesday 5 AUGUST at 11 am
Wednesday 5 AUGUST at 6.15 pm

Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and New Plymouth screening dates to be announced.

Free Theatre is moving into Christchurch's new Arts Centre making it one of the first theatre companies to move back in the city centre since the earthquakes.

Free Theatre has played a vital role in the cultural life of Christchurch for 35 years, under its founding artistic director Peter Falkenberg. Established in 1979 Free Theatre is New Zealand's longest running producer of experimental theatre. The company serves as a laboratory for established and emerging artists to work together to create innovative, high quality performance work.

Shirley Horrocks has been filming the company for several years now as part of a documentry about the group. She has filmed several of their productions including Canterbury Tales, a huge procession of giant puppets and theatre performances through the destroyed heart of the city, and Earthquake in Chile, a groundbreaking production which explores the positive sense of community that emerged following the earthquakes.

In his Insider blog, historian Jock Philips said of Earthquake in Chile that it was "one of the more remarkable theatrical 'experiences' I have had."

Our documentary about Free Theatre is currently a 'for love' project. Point of View has paid for a number of shoots and we are looking for ways to raise funds to complete this film. Please contact us if you would like to support this project.

Whaea Merimeri Penfold 1920-2014

We are saddened by the death of our friend and whaea, Merimeri Penfold. We had the great privilege of knowing and working with whaea Merimeri and we were honoured to be able to record her life and work in a documentary, He Wawata Whaea. We have wonderful memories of our time with Merimeri making the documentary, they are memories we will treasure and never lose.

Merimeri was a champion of te reo Maori, a beloved teacher, a composer of waiata and haka and an inspiration to many. She will be greatly missed.

In 2010 Shirley Horrocks did an in depth interview with Gus Fisher about his award winning fashion label El Jay and his early years in New Zealand fashion manufacturing. Gus Fisher went on to manufacture Chirstian Dior under license in New Zealand and earned a prominent place in New Zealand fashion history. Gus died shortly after this interview and so it is now a precious archive.

Point of View Productions has now been commissioned to make a full length documentary that expands on Gus's interview and looks more widely at the business and how it fitted into the growth of the fashion industry in New Zealand as a whole. We are currently in production on this project.

To celebrate the launch of NAMELESS /REDUX, the last major work by poet and artist Leigh Davis, Point of View is making available copies of its video documentation of Davis’s earlier project STATION OF EARTH-BOUND GHOSTS.In 1998, with the help of a skilled team, Davis created a series of poems in the form of exquisitely made flags. These were exhibited in the main concourse of the building that had once been Auckland’s central railway station. The flags added up to a kind of long poem, whose central character is the 19th century Ringatu prophet and guerrilla leader Te Kooti.To promote awareness of Davis’s extraordinary art, the DVD of STATION OF EARTH-BOUND GHOSTS, which includes behind-the-scenes coverage of how the work was made, can be purchased from this website for $15, plus $5 packaging and postage in New Zealand. (Check with us for overseas rates.) Click here to see our shopFor other work by Leigh Davis, check out the website http://jackbooks.com

LEN LYE the opera

Point of View Productions provided the moving images for Len Lye the opera.
The colourful life and times of Len Lye, the one-of-a-kind artist and film-maker who pursued a philosophy of 'Individual Happiness Now,' is now the subject of a 21st century opera.
It was presented 5th - 8th September 2012
at the Maidment Theatre, Auckland and enjoyed a sell out season and great reviews.

A crew from Point of View Productions, which included cinemotographer Leon Narbey, travelled to Italy to document Michael Parekowhai's work at the Venice Biennale 2011.

The Venice Biennale is the pre-eminent global contemporary visual arts event attracting a host of international artists, curators, critics and collectors.

Michael Parekowhai is one of New Zealand's most important contemporary practitioners. In addition to an extensive exhibition history, his work is held in all significant public and private collections throughout New Zealand and Australia, as well as major works in permanent collections across the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.